Best Caliber .22 vs .25, .30 Calibers For Long Range Plinking / Hunting

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Jan 7, 2017
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A few weeks back I posted a question about best caliber for long distance. So over the course of that time and input from @qball, @centercut and many others things have come together or at least a little more knowledge. Traditionally the larger calibers say 25, 30 seem to be taken as better long range power and more accurate against wind drift. If this is true or not another issue comes up and that is of AIR USAGE. So for super long distance plinking and small animal hunting does the .22 make more sense than using the .30 cal. 

I guess to make sure here is what I am gleaming.

1. .22 call in heavy slugs say 26g to 36grn have just as good if not better BC than a .30 slug ?

2. Shooting .30 cal takes up alot more air , thus more air fills. The .30 cal Delta wolf in this power needed will only shoot 24 shots, Impact about 30 to 40 ??

3. More expensive per round shooting and more usage air.

4. More tuning for power / slug kits ect on the .30 cal vs .22 , We need to shoot at say 960 to 1050 fps per each slug or higher FPS ??



Does this make sense to SOLY concentrate on .22 cal for long distance plinking and small game hunting and drop 30 cal all together ?

Does 30 cal really buy you anything over a .22 for the above usages ? 



Thanks for your input ! 



Jay




 
long range anything with an airgun is mostly horsing around .. you need a gun that suits you well and you can get alot of ammo for, and to some extent is good on air .. hunting is not plinking .. hunting you may only use 1 mag and one fill in an entire day, plinking you may knock out 2 500 tins and fill 20 times and larger calibers dont go very far on air .. everybody wants to be a hero, but truth is most airguns make less power than a .22lr so how have you shot that all your life both hunting and plinking ..99% under 50 is how .. imo if you need a larger gun for a specific long range target, get one .. bout the only reason that makes sense .. mowing things down with a 177 or 22 at a more reasonable range makes the most sense and a decent gun can take small game easily to 75 id say if you got the skill ..
 
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Well, I'm not sure what's better than which, but I can tell you what I am doing with slugs. I started with a .22 EdGun R3 Long, shooting either NSA 20.2 at 985 FPS or the FX Hybrid shooting at 945 FPS. Both very accurate, and both good out to 175 yards or so. But, both of those slugs have low BC and are affected much by anything but the slightest of winds.

So next I decided to build a used .25 Impact with PP to shoot .25 slugs. I had a .25 Slug A liner, so I went with that, since it shot slugs better than my Superior liner. I also have a Superior Heavy, but haven't tried it. The slugs that shot best out of MY gun were the NSA 43.5 grain at 900 FPS, or about 78 FPE. Very accurate. I've hit ground squirrels out to 220 yards and the gun actually shot a 246-7x at this past week's N50 at Open Grove. I COULD shoot it faster, but taking the 43.5s up to 950 FPS makes the gun very harsh to shoot, reduces shot count considerably, and makes the gun much harder to shoot accurately...

So my final step to date, I bought a used .22 FX Maverick with 600mm barrel and CF bottle. I have installed a 600mm Superior Heavy liner and intend to shoot .22 NSA 31.2 grain at approx. 950 to 975 FPS. Talking to some of the best shooters in the country, and watching them shoot, the heavy weight .22 NSA is the way to go. Most shoot the 700mm barrel at about 1000 to 1025 FPS, and about 950 FPS with the 600mm barrel, both being equivalent in accuracy. I am currently at 190/155 with the regs, Superior Heavy liner, heavy hammer from the .30 caliber gun (13 grams?), Ernest brass transfer port and Huma pin probe. I haven't shot this at distance yet, but plan to over the Christmas Holidays.

So why did I go from the .25 shooting 43.5 grain to .22 shooting 31.2 grain? Lets assume accuracy is the same at 200 yards. The 31.2 grain NSA .22 actually has a slightly better BC than the .25 NSA 43.5 grain. Not by much, but measurably better. The .22 can be shot ACCURATELY faster than the .25, and it gets more shots per fill. The .22 shoots faster, so slightly flatter trajectory. The.22 slugs are also cheaper and when you shoot a box every weekend it adds up. And lastly, guys like Justin Welch and Thayne Simmons can shoot any caliber and slug they want, and they shoot a heavy .22 caliber slug. 'Nuff said...
 
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@centercut thanks for chiming in. I feel a bit ridiculous buying 2 30 cal air rifles. I had my reasons and one big one was long distance shooting. I got tips from you on the delta wolf .30 but after looking at the makeup of that gun it is much better suited for 850 fps pellets with accuracy and more shot count, than 24 measly shots and then refilling trying like hell to get faster slug speeds. My 30 cal maverick might have been tuned or not right from the factory, looking into the hammer spring being too light to push hybrid slugs to 950s plus. SO that is a pain. Id rather have to just do slight tweaks to a gun to get those speed where they need to be versus full rebuilds and power kits. 

After you confirmed what I been seeing I might sell 2 of the 30 cals. I have just bought a 700mm maverick .22, 700mm crown .22, and coming next week a .22 Redwolf HP. Honestly not shot any of them yet. I have played around with the 30 cals and 17 cals but will start focusing on the .22 to see if I can get results without trying to force the gun into overdrive if that makes any sense. My buddy has his impact hitting 200 yard targets but again only gets about 30 to 40 shots at 970s with hybrids. 

Just seems like we are asking for alot in pushing the 100 fpe range. Am I missing anything ?

Center... thanks again for the information and lets keep trading any experiences. I will need tips lol ! 

Jay
 
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Jay, feel free to PM anytime. In a nutshell, for me, it goes like this.

For shooting pellets accurately at 100 yards, like the EBR or RMAC, I think .30 is the way to go. I'd say shooting N50 probably ,22 RDMs, but then you buy into HOURS of sorting, sizing, weighing, etc. If not you WILL get flyers that will ruin your scores. The RDMs are just as good at 100 also as the .30, but the same applies with sorting. I've never had to sort .30 pellets. And then there's the .25 King Heavy. The great unknown. It has the POTENTIAL to be the best of the three, but you know what they say about potential...

For Slugs, I'd say the .22, followed closely by the .25. Before I built my .25 slugger all I heard was how they aren't accurate and not worth even trying. Well, that's not true and a lot of people are recognizing that. But as described in my previous post, .22 heavy slugs are currently King. Of course if you're hunting Coyotes or something, you might want to look at .25 heavy slugs or even .30. But .30 slugs aren't the way. Expensive, inefficient, BC not really any better, accuracy no better, harder to shoot accurately, etc. Last place IMHO.

Your Red Wolf HP is a pellet gun. Use it for pellets, its great. But SORT those pellets or it'll break your heart when you least expect it. Turn your new Crown into a .25 and shoot .25 King Heavy Mk2 pellets at 100 yard competitions, or at targets up to 100 yards. And make the .22 Maverick into a Slugger shooting .22 NSA 31.2 at 1000 FPS. All three great guns, all three can be set up to be winners....
 
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Centercut,

I jdon’t see the advantage of the 31 grain .22 cal NSA’s over the .25 cal 34.9 NSA’s for long range shooting/hunting, gun longevity or shot count.

Shooting the .31 grain .22’s @ 1000 fps requires extremely high reg pressure, stresses the gun, and more importantly… the bc is not as good as the .25 34.9 NSA’s. (.11 vs .095 in the .22)

wind drift with the .25 is superior as well and it can be done without stressing the gun and with a higher shot count.

Example: with a 10 mph 90 degree crosswind at 250 yards the .25 cal 34.9 NSA @ 900 fps drifts 2.6 mils (StrelokPro)

the .22 cal 31 grain NSA @ 1000 fps drifts 3.2 mils at the same distance. (StrelokPro )

The .22 does shoot flatter but what difference does it make when clicking? Wind drift and shot count are king to me.

lastly on velocity. there is general thinking that slugs have to be shot fast to be accurate. This is absolutely untrue in Vulcans, Uraguns and the Argus 60. I shoot the NSA 34.9 and H&N slugs from 840-900 with extremely good accuracy out to 300. 


my impact .25 shoots the NSA 34.9 at 880 fps well with the superior barrel but not as good as the guns listed above.


Brad In Salt Lake
 
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Well, I'm not sure what's better than which, but I can tell you what I am doing with slugs. I started with a .22 EdGun R3 Long, shooting either NSA 20.2 at 985 FPS or the FX Hybrid shooting at 945 FPS. Both very accurate, and both good out to 175 yards or so. But, both of those slugs have low BC and are affected much by anything but the slightest of winds.

So next I decided to build a used .25 Impact with PP to shoot .25 slugs. I had a .25 Slug A liner, so I went with that, since it shot slugs better than my Superior liner. I also have a Superior Heavy, but haven't tried it. The slugs that shot best out of MY gun were the NSA 43.5 grain at 900 FPS, or about 78 FPE. Very accurate. I've hit ground squirrels out to 220 yards and the gun actually shot a 246-7x at this past week's N50 at Open Grove. I COULD shoot it faster, but taking the 43.5s up to 950 FPS makes the gun very harsh to shoot, reduces shot count considerably, and makes the gun much harder to shoot accurately...

So my final step to date, I bought a used .22 FX Maverick with 600mm barrel and CF bottle. I have installed a 600mm Superior Heavy liner and intend to shoot .22 NSA 31.2 grain at approx. 950 to 975 FPS. Talking to some of the best shooters in the country, and watching them shoot, the heavy weight .22 NSA is the way to go. Most shoot the 700mm barrel at about 1000 to 1025 FPS, and about 950 FPS with the 600mm barrel, both being equivalent in accuracy. I am currently at 190/155 with the regs, Superior Heavy liner, heavy hammer from the .30 caliber gun (13 grams?), Ernest brass transfer port and Huma pin probe. I haven't shot this at distance yet, but plan to over the Christmas Holidays.

So why did I go from the .25 shooting 43.5 grain to .22 shooting 31.2 grain? Lets assume accuracy is the same at 200 yards. The 31.2 grain NSA .22 actually has a slightly better BC than the .25 NSA 43.5 grain. Not by much, but measurably better. The .22 can be shot ACCURATELY faster than the .25, and it gets more shots per fill. The .22 shoots faster, so slightly flatter trajectory. The.22 slugs are also cheaper and when you shoot a box every weekend it adds up. And lastly, guys like Justin Welch and Thayne Simmons can shoot any caliber and slug they want, and they shoot a heavy .22 caliber slug. 'Nuff said...
Click to expand...

Centercut What diameter NSA slug do you plan on using in your maverick with a superior heavy liner? I’m thinking of converting my .30 MK ll Impact to .22. 
Thank You Steve 
 
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A reason why I like my Uragan King 25 using 29gr NSA is the high shot count per fill, which is 100 or so, and by the time those are shot up I'm about done playing. So far I haven't even gotten to 3 fills in one session.

If the wind is reasonable it isn't too difficult hitting 2-3 moa sized steel at 300Y. Last time I tried hitting a 7" diamond at 290Y in frustrating winds I only hit it 3 out of 10 shots but I was surprised I was able connect at all to begin with. It's much easier at 200Y with these but even still, getting the wind right is the problem.

At some point in the near future I'll use Brad's suggestion which he had mentioned to me at RMAC and try the 34.9's.
 
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Yea, very interesting. I am curious if Strelok pro is as accurate at wind drift as people might think ? To me it is a great application but some areas people have hinted that the wind drift is the weaker part of the application ? The mildot drop is outstanding and some of the wind drift has been very close for me....



Jay
Click to expand...




strelok is a program and with any program garbage in garbage out. Correct wind input is not as easy at all even with a wind meter and add long distance to it it become more like art. IF the wind is exactly the same from your muzzle to the target and can be accurately measured then strelok is 100% accurate. 
 
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Steve123, I have tried the NSA 29.5 flat base .249 slugs in my Uragan 25 but not so good. 

A few questions, what speed are you shooting the 29's and are the as accurate as pellets at 50 to 100 yds?
Click to expand...

Yes they are about the same but blow considerably less than pellets, especially at 100Y. The 29's are going 922 fps in my gun.
 
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I read post , Id like to give my input on slugs , I am a hunter and long range shooter , I shoot all calibers and I hunted with all of them and out to 300 yrds ,While I agree with the ,22 cal say maverick , impact and taipan , and R5m , The NSA 31,2 is a great shooting slug , I do prefer the MP 36 gr to it as it has a better BC and does not drift as much , I find my accuracy is best between 900 to 1035 depending on gun ,

I read here alot of guys saying this slug or that slug doesnt shoot well , well , The most important detail for slug shooting is proper sizing , and this cant be decided by asking another member , instead grab your cleaning rod and do 1 of 2 things to determine proper size , this is also useful if you ordering a swag die or tooling or slug sizers or molds ,###providing your twist-rate matches ammo weights for stability , JBM caculators have a good free program for stability

1 push threw 6 pellets mike up and write down get average and add .0005 so if you measure .2155 then the ,216 would be best size for that barrel , and yes I have seen over .002 differences between platforms so it does vary ,

2 push threw your slug with cleaning rod you want about 10 to 20 pounds force to push threw barrel should be uniform if not it needs some work and polishing , when it has this much drag it is proper size so slug bites into rifling as and to spin properly

As for the magic caliber , well they all got a purpose , in heavy wind or larger game 40 cal all the way , The 61.5 and 66 gr NSA s a great slug in my evol , around 100fpe and is great in wind , and has alot more punch and retains energy

The .25 cal is a great caliber I shoot my FX rti taipans with 40 to 66 gr slugs and they buck wind very good , not bad on air like the 30 and also the king heavy's shoot great in them ,

SO I like all cals for different reasons , Now if we talking pellets at low power , I love my styer pro semi auto and it shoots lights out at 100 yds with 18 gr hn and also shoots the lighter 15,6 slugs very well ,

I am lucky I have many guns I own but if I had to buy onw and only 1 gun It would be the 22 cal as It can shoot low power say 10fpe with pellets up to 80fe for Zeb 409 gr slugs and cab take out coyotes under 100 yds with the MP slug I got over a dozen with the R5M , Their is alot of great platforms to choose from and all are good As for air consumption , if you are in this sport , you need a compressor when I started I had a hand pump in 2006 and went to a tank in 2007 using scuba shop , Now I tun a airtex compressor , as I shoot a few large tans a week normally

LOU
 
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